Dave & Allan,
The 3880 does not take roll paper directly. Epson doesn't realty push canvas media for the 3880. The max thickness for media is 1.5mm or 0.059 in (50 mils). The few brands that I have used so far are from Breathing Color and Duratex, media thickness of 19--23 mils were most successful. I am still trying to obtain samples form other mfgrs and further open the door for increased usage of Canvas on the superb 3880.
For Breathing Color: Lyve, 800M and Chroma White
For DuraTex: Can701 and Can 1801 (smooth coat, fine detail!)
Addressing the use of roll paper or canvas on the 3880: 17 in. wide roll paper cuts easily, depending on the stock 'curling' can be a problem. After cutting a reqd length, I will reverse roll that cut sheet onto a 3" dia. tube. The tube will have a 36 in. length of fabric mounted to it and the cut paper is placed on it and rolled. After several minutes, it is 'decurled' enough to print on. After the print has dried it may be necessary to 'decurl' once more--this step permits easier mounting/framing of your print.
Canvas is a bit more touchy to cut to size, my inexpensive Dahle rotary cutter can't handle the canvas but cleanly cuts 6 shts of bond paper (21 mil). After cutting it may be necessary to 'decurl' the canvas to keep the 3880 happy.
For paper and canvas it is quite necessary to keep your working edges square, this is done to ensure that the 3880 properly aligns your cut sheet 'squarely' and not an angle. For a large print length the misalignment becomes visible.
Feeding the cut paper sht requires the same care as normal sht stock, printer feed is not a problem. For canvas, even at 19 mil, achieving the proper feed can be more or more tedious. In fact, steps must be taken before the attempted feed. Carefully examine the working edges of the canvas and trim all 'fibers'--I have learned the hard way how these fibers can end up on the canvas surface preventing the ink from laying down properly and leaving fine 'hairlines'. A simple effect 'cleansing' can be easily achieved by 'walking' the edges close to a lit candle flame.
My breakthru in feeding the canvas came from attempting to recover the 'stuck sht--if you press the 'eject sheet' button on the printer menu region (it's the South Pole button) the sheet is commanded to eject-but doesn't. the rollers just turn. I found that if I place the sheet in the rear auto feed (not the rear manual feed) and press the eject button the sheet will feed to it's proper startup position and stop (cannot find this info in the manual). At this point, you can check to see if the alignment is acceptable. Carefully examine the right hand side of the canvas, check it's 'verticallity' as best as you can--if you uncomfortable at all repeat the feed. Yes, you may have several poor feeds before a good one, but at least that sheet wont be wasted as it could be if it were fed from auto feed following a print command. When you have a 'good' feed (19-21 mil often does it) press print and pray! The suggested rear (manual) feed did work (sometimes) but wouldn't me to print small canvas test prints for color check--I can stick a 4x6 into the rear auto feed, press eject, see the feed and print or retry.
Bottom line: Rolled media, paper or canvas can be used on the 3880--when cut to size of your choice or the max size accepted by the 3880---17x37.4 Keep your media thickness below 21 mils. The media vendors try to supply print profiles for Photo Blk and Matte Blk, my Colormunki has generated very good profiles. Feeding the canvas into the 3880 requires TLC, tis a pity Epson didn't design the roller system to do it properly. For large size prints cleanliness is mandatory, especially so when running canvas media.
Is it worth it? Artistically, Yes!! Financially, from several vendors you can save 15-25% over the pre-cut shts, more important is that some roll media is not available in sheets. Breathing Color's (paper) Vibrant Luster has a more pronounced Luster surface that sparkles and maintains great detail.
For much more info on canvas printing, mounting, framing and protective surface sealing visit Naturesacapes, their Printing and Photofinishing forum:
http://www.naturescapes.net/phpBB3/viewforum.php?f=44&sid=3859adf47b1c4a839cd915de6cb77037I hope this info has been of some assistance.
irv weiner
